Portsmouth's Jenkins breaking records, raising eyebrows

Thursday

Eric Jenkins might be the best kept secret in New Hampshire high school sports right now.

Eric Jenkins might be the best kept secret in New Hampshire high school sports right now.

The Portsmouth High School cross country senior recently broke a record which was once thought of as untouchable.

Jenkins won last Tuesday's four-team home meet in 15 minutes, 38 seconds, and broke Cory Thorne's course record by seven seconds.

Thorne was a four-time state champion at Portsmouth High School and was ranked in the top 20 in the country in his senior year (2005). Thorne is currently running at the University of Louisville and is a hopeful for the United States Olympic team.

"I really didn't know I was that close until I came out of the woods up here at mile three," Jenkins remarked on his record-breaking performance. "No one else was really in the woods with me, and I knew I had about 10:06 on mile two, so I knew I needed to pick it up, but I didn't know I had a shot until I came out of the woods."

Jenkins has yet to receive the same kind of collegiate attention Thorne did his senior year despite his success.

This can all change Saturday at the Class I championships at Derryfield Park in Manchester.

"Knock on wood, not to jinx him or anything, but he'll be in the top three and that's low-balling him a little bit," Portsmouth assistant coach Mike Lyford. "I think he has a very good chance at winning."

Portsmouth head coach Stan Lyford knows it won't be as easy for Jenkins as it has been so far this season.

"He's got some competition," Stan Lyford said. "It's not going to be a cakewalk."

Like Thorne, Jenkins has a chance to go to the Northeast National Footlocker Race in Long Island, N.Y. and compete against the top 40 runners from the region.

"You can't say what's going to happen, we went down with Cory (Thorne) his junior year, and when he finished in fifth place everybody at the finish line said 'Who are you?'" Stan Lyford said. "Same thing could happen (this year). Some kid could come out of nowhere, hopefully Eric, you just never know."

"I think after this weekend he's really going to show up on the radar, big time," Mike Lyford said. "I think (he's) going to be a shock for people who know New Hampshire high school cross country."

Jenkins has been running alone all season and is easily one of the three fastest runners in Class I.

"He's been our top runner all year," Stan Lyford said. "Everybody on the team knows he's going to get first in the meet. One meet we even had him run with the other guys so they would get a chance to stay together as a pack and run a little bit better with someone helping them along."

Jenkins has been no surprise to the Portsmouth cross country community. He was highly touted as a middle school runner and for the past three years on the high school team. However, he has kicked into another gear this year.

"I think its genetic ... he's always been good," said Stan Lyford on Jenkins's recent dominance. "Until this year he was kind of a small kid. He really put on a lot of weight, a lot of height and a lot of strength."

"He's been a monster in how much faster he's running than last year," Mike Lyford said. "I've never seen anything like it. Everything he does he wants to be the best. On the basketball court, the starting line, he wants to be the best at that, he's a fierce competitor."

Jenkins has had the daunting task of running way ahead of the pack by himself for much of the season. Who wants to run by themselves, whether it be recreational or competitive?

"I hate practicing, I hate actually running," Jenkins said. "I just really like finishing, getting good times and winning."

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